Out of the blue
by armin44
Summary: "You know, the notion that you can't be best friends with your significant other is so, so wrong. Romance doesn't ruin friendship and vice versa, friendship doesn't harm romance." In which a small lie leads to unexpected consequences.
1. Chapter 1

"I think that you still like Sasuke-kun."

Sakura winces at the remark, looking over her shoulder and throwing her best friend a dirty look. What's up with this talk and where did it come from? As far as she is concerned, Ino gave up on Sasuke long ago and decided to pursue a career in pharmacy. So why would she start _this _sort of talk again?

"No, I don't."

"Well, that doesn't sound too convincing to me," Ino says with a not-so-subtle wink and Sakura internally groans. Oh, here they go again.

"I'm not trying to convince you - I'm simply stating the fact. No. I. Don't. Like. Uchiha. Sasuke."

The look on Ino's face is still full of suspicion, but it seems like she decides to drop the subject for the time being and Sakura is so thankful for it. As it is, she isn't entirely comfortable discussing her personal life with anyone, let alone Ino, even though the latter one is her best friend. Although, there is no 'personal life' to begin with, she thinks to herself - she is completely and utterly alone and will continue to be so for the rest of her life.

Wow. How depressing.

"Do you find anyone attractive?"

"Ino, if you don't stop talking about guys _right this moment_ I will personally strangle you and send your corpse as a present to your teammates," Sakura says, moaning in frustration. Today happened to be an extremely exhausting day: apart from sorting out her paperwork, she had to check up on her most annoying patients - Kotetsu and Izumo - and, with a help of a few older nurses, kick them out of the hospital as they refused to leave. After all of this Sakura found out that Tsunade is missing, so she had to call up a team of chuunins in order to find her.

"Pff, as if you would do that," Ino huffs, shaking her head in resignation. "And this doesn't answer my question, so I'm still waiting for an answer. I won't judge you if it's someone ugly, you know."

Sakura looks away and feels her cheeks burning up in pure anger. In fact, Choji can burn bacon on her cheeks for all it's worth! How _dare _she imply this sort of thing?!

But Ino seems persistent, and Sakura has no idea what to do. Repeating 'no, I don't like anyone' over and over again seems like the best solution, but she knows Ino and knows that this nagging isn't going to stop any time soon.

Maybe... if she tells Ino that she likes someone.

It doesn't have to be true, right? She can even hide her mysterious lover's name, if she wills! And then this questioning will end and she will be able to carry on with her normal life, pretending that she likes someone but not 'adventurous' enough to tell them.

Yeah, this definitely seems better than her previous plan.

"Um, actually... I do like someone."

Yamanaka abruptly stops and slowly turns her head to get a better look at her friend's face and figure out if she's lying, or so it seems to Sakura, but the latter one is trying her best to pretend that the reason for her ferocious blush is her pure embarrassment.

A few seconds later, Ino coughs and Sakura tries not to raise her eyebrow; why the _heck _is she so unsure _now_, of all times? She expected Ino to rush at her with millions of questions all at once, but now this idea seems silly.

"So... Is it someone I know?"

Sakura reminds herself that she supposedly likes someone, and does her best at fidgeting and nervously intertwining her fingers. "Y-yeah, but I can't tell you the name."

"Why? Are you afraid that I will go up to him and tell him that my best friend has taken an interest in him?"

"Partly that, but I also don't want you to intrude into my personal life," she says and takes a deep breath, lying her way through. "I have liked Sasuke-kun for such a long time that moving on turned out to be much harder than I thought. But when I finally did, I noticed that I keep watching this... guy and I occasionally catch myself thinking about him when he's not around."

Ino nods, but she doesn't look too convinced. In fact, Sakura can see how she squints her eyes and frowns; no, this sort of look definitely doesn't belong to someone who trusts you.

"About this guy... if I can't know his name, can I at least hear more about him?" Ino says cautiously and continues walking alongside Sakura, her gaze firmly set on her friend's face.

"You see, he's a great guy..." What is it that girls like so much about guys, again? Rather, what is the _exact _opposite of Sasuke, so that Ino doesn't have any more suspicions? "He's funny, he's really talkative and open-minded... He has lots of friends and helps everyone, plus he is energetic all the time and-"

"Wait, did you just describe Naruto?"

Sakura's eyes widen - only slightly, but it's enough for Ino. Haruno thinks back to what she said a moment ago and panics because, yes, she has described _Naruto. _In fact, every single thing she has mentioned fits him perfectly.

Oh, crap.

How is she going to get herself out of this one?

She can't lie to Ino and tell her that there are two people in Konoha who fit these characteristics while one of them is her teammates. Cra-a-ap can't she say that she has simple exaggerated and her crush isn't actually all that great to begin with?

It's either this, or...

Can she really tell Ino that she likes Naruto, of all people? What is her reaction going to be like?

_Dear Mum and Dad, I'm sorry for being such a dumbass and blurting out the first thing that comes into my silly head._

"Yeah," gulp, "I like... Naruto."

"YOU _LIKE _HIM?!" Ino shouts and Sakura winces because _that went right into her freaking ear. _She is overly aware of the stares: people - most of them are complete strangers - are looking at them and Sakura hopes to get out of this sticky situation as soon as she can.

"It's not like I planned it," she whispers back and notices that her cheeks finally decide to cool down. "It just... happened. One day I woke up and realised that I like this... loud and hyperactive idiot."

"But you haven't seen each other in, like, two and a half years, how can you be certain that you actually like him?" It seems like Ino is more willing to believe her, now that she knows the name, and Sakura fervently thinks of the best answer. But really, how _can _she be certain?

"I think I simply know," _oh good gods what am I blabbering? _"He's always been there for me, hasn't he? And- ughh, it's embarrassing."

"I bet it is," says Ino with a chuckle but doesn't stop with the questioning. "Are you going to confess to him when he comes back? And how are you going to do it? Will it be in private or will you confess in front of everyone? Either way, I will support you, seeing as you don't like Sasuke-kun anymore."

Oh, right. Confession.

She told Ino that she likes Naruto but, knowing Yamanaka, she will want the two of them to get together. Or something.

"I think it will be too early," she begins cautiously. "I mean, Tsunade-sama told me that he's coming back soon but approaching him and telling him about my feelings... I don't want to rush it."

"Oh, I get it, I get it - Forehead Girl being herself," Ino exclaims while nodding; Sakura can't stop thinking that she's digging her own grave. "But... you will spend more time with him, won't you?"

"Ino, we are teammates - we ought to spend a lot of time together," she rolls her eyes.

"No, as in - you will spend more time _alone._ Just the two of you. Who knows what it can lead to?" Ino wiggles her eyebrows at the implication.

_Mother of God._

"I'm sure we will figure it out and you should stop planning my life for me! I don't want to be too pushy."

Ino scratches the back of her head and hums, "That's true, no one likes girls who are too needy and pushy. Then, start with bento."

"Huh?"

"Make him bento and bring bandages for your trainings and ask him to go with you whenever Ichiraku has special offers. You know, those little things that girls do for their loved ones," Ino ends the statement with a wink.

"I don't lo-"

"I doesn't matter, you still ought to make some bento and I will teach you how to do it, seeing as you are so inexperienced when it comes to boys and cooking."

xxxx

Sakura is acutely aware of how quickly time passes by. Maybe it's because she spends most of her time in the hospital and when she does get some free time, Ino drags her to her house and teaches her how to make perfect bento.

Never mind the fact that, even after three or so weeks of constant practising, she's still awful in it and somehow manages to make fresh fish taste like slugs (ironically, seeing as her teacher is able to summon a slug).

But her waiting comes to end when, on a Saturday morning, Ino bursts into her room, shouting something incoherent and waving a lot, from what Sakura is able to see.

When she blinks a few times and finally concentrated on her best friend, she blurts out, "What?" which sounds incredibly lazy and sleepy.

Whatever. It's her day off.

"Your beloved Uzumaki is back and he arrived, like, ten or so minutes ago. Get up and go see him!"

Oh. The day she has been not only anticipating, but also afraid of for the last three weeks. Well, she doesn't have a good excuse to stay in bed and just sleep for a few more hours, so she gets up and ruffles her hair. Her mind is occupied with words like 'holy shit what am I gonna do' and other profanities. Okay, so Ino believes her and thinks that she will confess at some point, but how long will she be able to keep this act up? How will Naruto react? Will she have to convince him to date her to get Ino and everyone else off her back? Ughh she hasn't thought this through before.

Sakura kicks Ino out and changes into her everyday clothes, praying to God so that Ino doesn't make things awkward between her and Naruto.

About fifteen minutes - and two major fights - later they finally leave Sakura's apartment and look around for anything that is orange, yellow and bright.

She isn't surprised when they locate Naruto at Ichiraku; now that she thinks of it, they should have checked Ichiraku straight away, but she admits to herself that she sort of hoped that Naruto will go to the hospital and look for her, too.

Nonetheless, she puts on a happy smile and approaches the ramen stand with a wide grin, hands on her hips. Oh, he _will _be surprised, she is sure of it.

She comes closer and lifts up a signboard that prevents her from seeing him, hoping that she is right-

Yep, it's really him.

"Ohayo, baka," Sakura says happily and she isn't disappointed when he swiftly turns around and looks at her, his sky-blue eyes immensely wide.

"Sakura... chan," he breathes out and then smiles, too, jumping up and giving her a tight hug. "Sakura-chan!"

She giggles; like a twelve-years-old girl who was lucky enough to kiss her crush, she giggles and feels giddy and can't comprehend how was she able to spend the last two and a half years without him, without his radiant smiles and this feeling of comfort.

Gosh, she missed him. She really, really missed him.

She hugs him even tighter and suddenly notices how tall his is. Unlike before, he is now good five and a half feet tall and she can feel herself tiptoeing in order to hug him properly.

When they finally take a step back to look at each other, she finally takes in his appearance. Not much has changed in regards to his jumpsuit - it was still bright orange, but with black instead of blue. Oh, and he also changed his headband.

Gee, if she is honest with herself, he looks quite... grown-up.

"I though you were going to seek me out as soon as you came back," she says with a playful pout, to which he laughs in his carefree manner.

"Gomen-gomen, I was _starving_ to death, so I had to fill my stomach before seeing you, Sakura-chan," he amends with a sheepish grin and scratches the back of his head. He looks right into her eyes and she swears that it's the bluest blue she has ever seen... or maybe he has always been that way but she never took the time to realise it.

She hears a cough behind her back and now she's all too aware that they are watched by her best friend.

Yeah, she kinda forgot about Ino.

"I'm not gonna interrupt you two, but you better finish soon as loads of people still want to see you, Naruto," Ino says with a wink and leaves. "See you later, lovebirds."

"Huh? W-we aren't lovebirds!" says Naruto, stuttering a bit which doesn't go unnoticed by Sakura.

So how is she going to explain the mess she has gotten herself into to Naruto?

xxxx

_A quick prologue... or whatever._

_(Fyi, I haven't abandoned my other stories as I'm simply working my way through e.g. making some major changes, proofreading, etc. etc. New chaps are almost ready :))_

_I plan to make this story all pink and fluffy and awkward and somewhat funny, so there you go. I hope you enjoyed this quick preview and I will update soon._


	2. Chapter 2

_I forgot to point out that this story is set in the very beginning of Shippuden, so Naruto is 15 and Sakura - around 16. Thanks for reading and reviewing :)_

xxxx

He hears a soft click on the other side of the door and then, with a little push, he finally enters his apartment. The awful smell and thick layers of dust don't come as a surprise, but they aren't welcome, either. They serve as a certain reminder of how long he has been gone for.

Naruto takes out his key from the keyhole and puts it in his pocket, musing on how he's going to clean this mess, but then he hears a polite cough from behind.

Oh, right.

Sakura offered her help and came along.

"Ah, sorry, come in, Sakura-chan," he says with a grin and his mind is no longer occupied with depressing thoughts of how much he missed Konoha and his friends.

_How much he missed Sakura._

He shakes his head and nervously clears his throat, entering his apartment and closing the door behind himself. His room seems even smaller that he remembers and now that there are two people here, it doesn't feel any bigger than an empty fridge box.

"Alright, so let's begin with washing this dust off," Sakura announces and takes matters in her own hands when she opens every single window in his apartment and, somehow, manages to find two rags in a cupboard. Naruto is dumbfounded as he continues to stand in the middle of the room, all the while Sakura runs around and fills two buckets with water.

He finally snaps out of it when she puts both of them - plus two rugs - in front of it.

"Let's get to it - your room won't clean itself, will it?"

And he silently agrees, giving her a small nod and a cheerful smile, after which he bends down and takes the damp yellow rag.

They make a small conversation during their cleaning session and, honestly, Naruto has no idea what to say. He already asked about how things are going in hospital and how is her parents' well-being, so other questions are out of general topics. For example, how was she coping for the last two and a half years. How did she manage to simply continue on with her life without getting a single letter from him, because Naruto found it torturous.

Not that Jiraya was a bad company, but sometimes, well after midnight when the sky was pitch black and the stars were barely visible, he would think of his life back in Konoha and long for a single letter from his friends, albeit knowing that it's prohibited and only Jiraya is able to send letters of high importance, not receive them.

But then again, Sakura had her friends and her family with her, so maybe she hasn't missed him as much as he missed her.

Naruto looks at her from the corner of his eyes and smiles to himself when he sees how serious and grown-up Sakura is now. It's not about the physical change, no - it's in the way she moves, speaks and carefully listens to his stories that are completely random and wouldn't make sense otherwise, but she listens. Because she cares.

"Oi, why are you dazing off?" Sakura says out loud, interrupting his train of thought, and he doesn't know how to - or, for that matter, he _can't_ - tell her that he's being thinking of her, so he blurts out the first thing that comes into his mind.

"I'm just wondering how Obaa-chan is doing."

Yeah, way to go there, Naruto.

Why not talk about Sakura-chan's teacher?!

"Oh, Tsunade-sama? She's doing great!" she replies with her back facing him. "I mean, she doesn't gamble as much anymore, and the amount of sake in her office isn't as bad as it used to be."

Naruto tries not to be sceptical of her words - and fails, because there is no way that Old Hag began drinking less. She is probably hiding most of her sake bottles in her closet and pretends that she is only hiding highly important files in there.

"Don't worry, you'll get to see her - after we clean this du- Aah- ACHOO."

And she sneezes; it's somewhat funny, as she has never sneezed because of dust, but now she did and he suppresses his laugh, only to give out a yelp when he sees her falling down.

Right, they already washed the floor and it is way too slippery when you try to move around.

So it comes at a no surprise when they both fall with Naruto trying to catch Sakura and her being a little bit clumsy.

Their fall is accompanied with a loud 'boom' and Naruto winces at the dull pain in his back. He then hears a small moan from his teammate and looks to his left, hoping that his eyes don't reveal how much he wants to laugh right now instead of asking how she's doing.

But she likes gentlemen so her pretends to be one by asking, "You alright, Sakura-chan?"

She whispers something like 'damn it' and 'idiot' but still replies to him. "Yeah, just hit my left arm. What about you?"

"Naah, a simple fall can't hurt me!" he announces, beaming, and the small roll of her eyes doesn't go unnoticed by him.

"Really? Because I can definitely recall when a small punch to your head made you squat down and hold onto your head, crying in pain."

Well, he _was _twelve at that time, so his first impressions _were_, to be honest, _quite bad._

"Maa, Sakura-chan, I have grown since then," he claim, pouting, and is taken aback by her sincere smile.

"I know."

_It's great that you know,_ he thinks, _because you have grown, too._

But then the moment is broken when she starts to get up and he hurriedly pushes himself up, thinking of what is left to do.

They finish cleaning his apartment way too quickly for his liking as he doesn't get to ask her as many questions as he wanted, but he is sure that they will have plenty of time to discuss everything later.

He thinks about many things as walk down the street. His mind is majorly preoccupied with thought about Sasuke and whether Tsunade will let them leave in order to retrieve him once again. Everything in him screams _no _and he is certain that she probably won't - not in the near future, at least, seeing as Naruto just came back and their team hasn't been practising in a while. But he knows that one day they will have to leave Konoha, looking for Sasuke once again, and there will only be two possible outcomes: they either drag his sorry ass to Konoha with - most likely - both arms and legs broken because he's such a stubborn bastard, or...

He doesn't want to think about another outcome, so he begins talking about the different people that he met during his travel, and Sakura, in return, shares some hilarious stories about her patients.

xxxx

When they approach the Ichiraku stand once again, Naruto can't help but notice all of his friends standing there, waiting for the two of them. He can't deny that there is still his twelve-year-old self, bound inside him, that wants to scream 'yatta!' and run towards them with his arms wide open, ready for a big hug, but he contains himself; mostly because he know that at least two people will hit him in the head for being so 'loud and obnoxious'.

Seeing all of them again is an amazing feeling. Like him, they have all changed so much - especially Shino and Akamaru - but refuse to acknowledge it, instead stating that _he _is the one who changed so much.

Well, he doesn't care either way, as the rest of Rookie 11 soon gets their orders and begin eating, making the ramen stand more or less silent. Of course, it doesn't last for long as Kiba and Choji aren't the sort of people to be silent while they are eating, so the three of them share a few jokes and tell each other of some of their awesome techniques. Naruto feels no shame when he tells them about his developed version of Sexy Technique, to which both Choji and Kiba laugh; Sakura, however, doesn't seem as impressed because soon, he finds himself laying with his face buried into ground a few meters away from Ichiraku.

He admits to himself that he expected it, yet it still comes as a surprise.

"And here I thought you were actually becoming an adult now, Na-ru-to," she growls and approaches him with that scary aura that surrounds her whenever he's being particularly perverted.

"Ittai, Sakura-chan," he manages to mumble but then Sakura picks him up as if he is a small doll and sighs in resignation, patting his shoulder.

"If you continue using this technique, you are gonna get yourself killed, baka," she says straightforward. He wonders if she is, in fact, worried about him, if that small flicker in her eyes is an indicator, but then she scoffs and turns around with her arms folded on her chest, and he is certain that it was simply a product of his imagination.

"Sakura, doesn't it feel that you are babysitting him, in a way?" he hears Tenten say and timidly gets up, ready to laugh the whole thing off because that's the kind of guy he is-

"Of course it does," says Sakura with a raised eyebrow, "but we haven't seen him for so long... I think he deserves a chance to justify himself."

He hears 'yeah, right' from Kiba, 'you can do it!' from Lee and a scoff from Neji, but it's all the reassurance he needs to get up once again and do what he was born to do.

"I will become Hokage, dattebayo!"

It's about three minutes and seventeen seconds later that he is sitting on his chair, his mournful gaze directed towards Shikamaru's bowl of miso soup. "Oh, so Gaara became Kazekage?"

"I'm surprised you haven't heard of this before," lets out Ino and Naruto shrugs; he was so busy with his training that he didn't have time to check up on Gaara - or other people, for that matter.

But he knows that he shouldn't be sad about this - in fact, he has to be cheerful for his friend (at least that's what he calls Gaara in his head), so Naruto slams down his fist and shouts, "Well, then I will become Hokage _and _a better Kage than Gaara will ever be!"

Three hits to his head and an intense uproar of laughter later, they resume talking about trivial things and soon part their ways as the other three teams have to attend their training sessions. Ino is the last to leave, and when she does, she comes up to Sakura and whispers something into her ear. Whatever it is that she said, it makes Sakura's eyes widen and Naruto can swear that the pink tint of her cheeks is brighter than her own hair.

Are they having their girls' talk or something?

Or maybe he has something on his face and Sakura is embarrassed for having such a clumsy ninja as her teammate?

He quickly wipes his face with his sleeve and walks towards Sakura when he is certain that Ino and the others have left.

"What did she say to you?" he asks in a secretive manner, to which she only waves her hand and murmurs that it's not important and has nothing to do with him, yet his sixth sense tells him that something is off. What _could _have Ino said about him that made Sakura blush like that?

What he doesn't realise is that he actually voices his question because one moment Sakura is looking down, squinting her eyes in embarrassment, and the next she stares at him in utter horror.

Oh. So it _does _have something to do with him.

"Listen, Naruto, I have to talk to you," she says with an underlining dilemma and bites onto her lower lip. She looks around them, as if making sure that no one is around to hear their conversation, and shakes her head. "No, we can't talk here. Can we walk around the park or something? My parents probably came back and I don't want them to see you, because it will lead to some completely unnecessary and absurd questions."

He gradually nods, speculating over what it is that she want to talk to him about. Naruto tries to calm that part of himself that screams 'yoshaa Sakura-chan wants to go to park with me' but it's fruitless and he ends up internally wooping over it anyway. The logical part of his brain tells him that it probably has something to do with Sasuke, otherwise she wouldn't want to speak _to him only._

It's rather quiet outside when they reach their destination. Citizens named this place 'park' though it looked nothing like an ordinary park, save for a small pond and a few tall trees that would enable one to hide under them on a hot day. In reality, this 'park' acted as training grounds for Academy students or those who were planning to become ninjas in future.

"So, the thing I want to talk to you about," Sakura finally speaks out and pauses, "is... God, this is so embarrassing and uncomfortable. Give me a moment."

"Sure," he simply agrees, feeling more and more awkward by the moment.

A minute or two pass by and she finally clears her throat. He's all ears.

"You see... You know how Ino is, right?"

"Yeah," he cautiously answers, having no idea where this conversation is going because he did _no _expect her to mention Ino at all.

"She wanted me to... date someone, or something. She asked me whether I still like Sasuke and when I said 'no', she continued pestering my about my personal life and how I should probably date someone or at least be interest... in someone."

Gears in his head are slowly starting to work again as he nods and urges her to continue, not dating to get his hopes up.

"And, you know, I didn't want her to continue taunting me, so I told her that I like someone. That I like you."

He abruptly stops, which makes her pause in her tracks, too. He has just heard that the girl that he liked for so long likes him back, right? It wasn't just a product of his imagination, right?

"So let me explain myself: I-I don't."

Pause.

Dead silence.

"No, it's not like I don't like you at _all,_ but- it's complicated, alright? I am sorry I got you into this mess to begin with, but not I have to pretend - at least in front of Ino - that I like you."

He doesn't say anything because, yeah, he was let down so much in an instant, but she didn't say that she doesn't like him at _all, _so there is still hope.

Why is he getting his hopes up, the darker side of him whispers. Why hope for something that might never happen, especially if Sasuke comes back? He needs to step back, apologise and tell her-

"And I will bring you bento and bandages, so don't freak out too much."

-and tell her-

"Oh, and sorry that I'm so bad in cooking - I'm _really _trying but for some reason my cooking skills are awful and if you ever try my sukiyaki, you will know what I mean."

-tell her that-

"Not to mention that Ino will force us to spend a lot of time together - not that we don't do it already - but she will make damn sure my actions will become so obvious to you, it's hard to ignore them, so-"

"Sakura-chan, go out with me."

xxxx

_I think that smaller chapters are better for now, so I will probably keep next couple of chapters within the same range of 2k-3k._

_Updates are coming soon~_


	3. Chapter 3

_Never write stories in present tense. Unless you want to read and re-read your stories over and over again, stressing over the fact that some past tenses are actually present tenses and vice versa._

_(Yet I still like writing stories in present tense, it makes them feel more relatable and natural, so don't listen to my blabbering.)_

xxxx

She looks at him as if he just stated that, actually, Sasuke is his brother.

As if he said that he doesn't want to be Hokage anymore.

As if... he is proposing to her.

Well, he is. In a way. In a very sophisticated way and he simply asked if she wants to go out with him.

And yes the whole thing still feels weird, so she gives out a small, "Huh?"

When he doesn't respond it's because he turns around and starts walking, his hands behind his back in that carefree manner of his.

To be honest, she expected many things. She expected for him to burst out and tell her that she can't use him like he is some toy without feelings. She expected him to get offended and never speak to her again. In the best case scenario, she expected him to accept her idea and just carry on with their normal lives like nothing has occured.

This. _This _she hasn't expected.

Naruto fidgets and clears his throat, and soon she hears his timid words, "We are friends and I know that you don't actually like me in that way, but I told you that I'm always there for you." She feels her cheeks heating up but refuses to interrupt him. "I don't want to give myself false hopes and I _know _that you still love Sasuke-"

_But I don't._

"- so we can do this... _thing _for a bit, until I return Sasuke back."

She inhales through her nostrils and tries to find a correct way to address his words because, yes, some of them are correct, but she isn't in love with Sasuke, dammit, and she doesn't want him to think that she uses him as a substitute boyfriend because it's convenient, no, but because he's Naruto, _dammit_, and he's the last person that she would ever hurt-

And then he breaks the silence with a "Let's go back" and continues walking as if nothing has happened.

"Naruto," she lets out, holding onto his sleeve and dragging him back. Her inner-self was getting so emotional and she was about to spill how wrong he is and how much she cares about him, but then _this jerk decides to turn around and freaking leave her in the middle of the street as if dating his best friend was as unimportant as getting ramen from Ichiraku? Shannaro!_

He stops in his tracks and gradually turns around; she smirks in her head: his perfect composure is immediately broken when he sees how angry she is, her pink hair flying all over the place, her forehead frowning and whole body surrounded by that devilish aura. She could feel him gulping and could swear that he was praying to all Gods to save his life.

"Now listen to me, you bigoted idiot," she growls, all the while tugging him closer to herself. She hasn't gotten that angry with him for a while now - even before he left with Jiraya. "I haven't got a clue what goes in your mind right now, but whatever it is just know - I don't approve of it. I don't _love _Sasuke anymore, got it? And I have no intentions of using _you_, of all people, as his substitute, or anyone else for that matter, because it's just plain wrong."

She doesn't actually remember what she says after that. Sakura continues blabbering about their friendship and that _he should know better, dammit, _but his face expressions capture her attention. First, his eyes widen and continue staring at her for quite some time. But then, when he finally understands what's she's getting at - because they are friends and he should know her better than that, just as she should have expected him to act all heroic and selfless - his face _shows _it. It's in the way his eyes are no longer wide; it's in the way the corner of his lips gently lift up to form an unsure, but sincere smile; it's in the way his face makes him look wise and much older than he actually is - someone she doesn't know at all.

But she is willing to get to know this 'new' Naruto. She wants to fill in this two and a half years' gap, and not by simply talking about their new techniques.

"Okay," he finally says and she wants to headbutt him for all it's worth because, honestly, _okay_ing her is probably the worst thing he could have done.

_Would he elaborate on that?_

"Okay _what_?" she inquires and lets go of him when he deliberately pulls back, his eyes closed and the rest of his face making it completely obvious that _he's happy. He's so glad._

She never understood his manner of getting happy about anything and everything. All she did was state the facts about him and now he's smiling like the biggest idiot on the planet.

What a dork.

"I'm not offering you... this," _is he blushing?! _"because I feel obligated to do it, neither do I think that you will leave me for Sasuke when he comes back. I'm asking you out b-because we are good for each other and I like you."

It's quite hilarious to see him stuttering once in a while.

She doesn't know how to reply to his confession because for the last two or so years she convinced herself that Naruto doesn't like her anymore and when he comes back, they can interact with each other as normal friends would. It isn't like she _hoped _that he will stop liking her, but avoiding it altogether was so much easier than facing the reality.

Sakura admits to herself that she wasn't ready and doesn't have an appropriate answer, so she tries to move their attention to something else, "What do you mean when you say that we are _good _for each other?"

His chest rises and he looks her his left, forming correct words in his head; she doesn't tell him to hurry up, for she knows that he isn't all that fluent with words.

Even before he opens his mouth, she sort of knows what he is about to say. She curses herself for paying too much attention to him and his face expressions when, in fact, she's supposed to be worrying about not blowing up their cover and how she will need to sort out this mess later on, but in the end it doesn't matter because it's _him _she's thinking about and _she can trust him with his life._

_"_We bring out the best in each other," he elaborates and clicks his fingers, looking for things to say. She can pinpoint the moment his eyes light up because he finds the right analogy. "Like when I want to use my Sexy Jutsu on the enemy, your face always appears in my mind and tells me that if I use it, _you _will be the one that beats the hell out of me."

Pause.

"So I don't use it."

This must have been the weirdest, yet the best analogy he could have come up with, and she tries to hold back her laugher - she really does - but the sincere look on his goofy face doesn't help, so she burst out laughing, her vivid mind painting her this picture. Here he is, fighting the enemies along Jiraya, and is already forming hand seals for Sexy Jutsu, but suddenly freezes, gulps and decides to use the Rasengan instead.

Boy is she waiting to see that in the nearby future.

Sakura finally calms down about thirty seconds later and smirks when she sees Naruto's somewhat confused face. He _really _didn't know why she was laughing so much.

So she patiently explains to him the reason for her laugher; in response, he yelps that 'This is exactly what happens!' and claims that he has also had a good influence on her. When she questions him on the topic, a bit curious but generally amused by his previous words, he states that it's in the way she treats herself, which is visible to everyone but her, and she can't help but mentally agree.

She noticed it about seven or so months ago, although, in all fairness, she wouldn't have realised if it wasn't Ino who pointed it out. 'You aren't as shy anymore, Forehead,' was what she said back then. 'I think it's thanks to the fact that Sasuke left.' And all of it was true; all of her uncertainties and insecurities took their roots in Sasuke and her previous affection for him, so when he was gone, so were her insecurities because the one person who always told her that she's weak was gone.

Naruto, on the contrary, has always made her feel better about herself and enhanced her will to strive her more and _fight harder _and _not to give up even when everything is crumbling around you._

She doesn't say anything to that - in fact, she doesn't get the chance to because they are interrupted by sudden appearance of Kakashi. They only see it's him when the smoke dissipates and he steps forward, his ever present sheepish grin making it clear that he isn't aware of the topic of their conversation.

"Yo, Naruto."

"Kakashi-sensei!"

Sakura waves at her sensei but continues being silent when Naruto and Kakashi exchange 'hello's and ask of each other's well-being. Only when Kakashi mentions one of those _gross _orange books does she interfere.

"Aaanyway, Kakashi-sensei, why are you here and how did you find us?"

"Ah, Sakura, don't you think that your teacher can be a real genius and that he is able to find out without anyone's help?"

"No," both of them say and Kakashi only shrugs.

"Either way, Tsunade-sama asked me to find you two as we are meeting our fourth member in an hour."

"Fourth member... of Team Seven?" Naruto repeats, his voice hollow and Sakura can't help but feel that uncomfortable lump in her throat suffocating her. She definitely saw that one coming and had plenty of time to prepare, yet replacing Sasuke with someone else seemed morally wrong.

When she looks at Naruto from the corner of her eyes, she notices that he is uncomfortable with this idea, too - his head is bowed, strands of his hair preventing Sakura from seeing his eyes.

Gosh, he's probably thinking about that promise again.

The one he has given her before he left in order to retrieve Sasuke for the first time.

She sighs and looks at Kakashi, her fists clenched at her sides.

"Kakashi-sensei," she begins, "I believe that another member will make us immobile - we are used to working with Sasuke and I doubt we will-"

"I'm sure we will get along," she hears Naruto say and violently flips her head to the right, not even trying to hide her surprise. Did she interpret his silence wrong? "Seeing as we won't get much time to become a proper team - I doubt that it will take too long for Tsunade-baa-chan to give us a mission with only one objective: Sasuke's retrieval."

She stays silent for a few moments and then she snorts out loud, Kakashi following suit. Phew, and here she was worried for a second that he was acting very un-Naruto-like.

"Baka, don't say things like that," she says and gives him a hit to his head.

"What? What did I say?" he asks with a subtle whine but neither Kakashi nor Sakura answer him. Oh no, he'll have to figure it out by himself.

"Can we at least get to know his name?" Sakura asks Kakashi and the latter one scratches his cheek, humming in the process.

"From what Tsunade-sama told me, he is not unlike Sasuke. He is quiet and controls his emotions very well because he went through a special training when he was younger."

"So what's that kid's name?" Naruto casually asks.

"Sai."

And suddenly Sakura wants to be somewhere far, far away from here, because she remembers this name very well and wants to make sure Naruto never gets to meet _him _in his lifetime.

xxxx

_A/N: Once I get my exams out of the way (8 more days, guys), I will definitely start writing longer chapters. For now, however, excuse me for making them so short. Hope you enjoyed this chapter and it wasn't too cheesy, although... forget about it. Cheesy is good, at least in this fanfic. I hope it was so **cheesy** that it made you cringe and take a small break from all this cheesiness. (evil laugh)_

_Also, the end of this chapter already tells you that I'm changing some of the things that happened in manga... I don't intend on keeping up with many of the manga/ anime events, as I find some of them quite tedious, etc._


	4. Chapter 4

_A/N: In my defence, I believed that Sakura was aware of who Sai was when she met him 'for the first time'. Idk I mean she is Tsunade's student and I'm sure that she knew about Danzo and what he did (at least a bit)._

_xxxx_

Naruto is not sure how he should phrase it, but a minute or so passes by and he finally knows what to say.

This guy is... _weird._

It's not because of what he's wearing (although, honestly, he could have at least covered his stomach!) and neither it is in the sickeningly-sweet manner that he speaks in.

Oh, no, it's Sai's _smile _that makes Naruto cringe and think of this 'hella pale' boy as being weird.

He opens his mouth, everything inside him urging him to just say it because the worst punishment he can get is not going to A-rank mission, but Sakura casually hits him with her elbow and now his thoughts are far away from that kid Sai and his gothic appearances.

"I hope we will become a great team in the future," Sai says and smiles in that (awkward, unnecessary, stupid) fake smile of his and one of Naruto's eyebrows twitches.

And here he thought that teme was the worst person he could even be teamed up with.

He doesn't miss the way Sakura acts around this guy. He likes to think that he knows her well - way better than most of her friends, anyway - and can recall which expression goes with which tone of voice off the top of his head. He stubbornly denies the fact that _he _is the weird one for knowing so much about his best friend.

Or... girlfriend. Are they going to tell Kakashi-sensei?

Naruto doubts that _now _is an appropriate time to ask her, but he can't help thinking about it for the next fifteen minutes or so. Damn hormones and damn his undeniable attachment to Sakura.

Either way, he is just a slightly bit suspicious about her. She isn't as open as he is - not to such an extent, he notices, because she is still as bright and emotional as she used to be - so her face expression doesn't tell him much. Nevertheless, she seems a bit rigid and just a tiny bit worried, so he tries to lighten her mood by offering to spar with this Sai.

Five minutes and twelve seconds later he regrets this decision; Naruto was hoping for an easy win that will leave Sakura beaming at him. Instead, he stops in his tracks and takes a deep breath, thinking of his next step because Sai isn't as weak as he seems to be. Physically, Naruto looks much stronger than him, and that's a fact.

"Are we done playing games here, Kakashi-san?" Sai asks _politely _and has the guts to casually hide his scrolls in his bag, as if he really _was _playing around. Naruto doesn't like it one bit and, judging by the look on Sakura's face, neither does she. "I would like to get to our mission already."

Kakashi slightly nods, closing his small orange book and putting it away with a tired look on his face; the same look that has been present on his face since he and Sakura got to meet Sai. Although, in all honesty, he would refer to it as 'being unfortunate enough to meet Sai'. Don't even get him started on those dirty jokes!

"I suspect that your little spar just now didn't help you in understanding each other's techniques, neither did it help your teamwork. In order to improve it, I asked Tsunade-sama of a few short missions that will help Sai become part of Team Seven."

"Yeah, as if he would _ever _become our teammate," Naruto can't help but whisper. Sakura can hear him perfectly well - that he knows for sure - yet she doesn't kick him once again or even threaten him. Is she... silently agreeing with his statement?

"Now, now, ladies, don't fight," Kakashi says as he waves his hand in the air, trying but failing to break the ice. "Naruto, I am well aware that you have only just returned from a long training, but I'm afraid we don't have much time that we can waste, playing ninjas in Konoha."

Sakura nods, and so does Naruto, albeit timidly; Sai remains silent. Naruto doesn't plan on dropping the topic of their previous conversation - he thinks that Kakashi is being absolutely indecent for allowing some emotionless jerk join their team, but then he isn't Team Seven's captain and in reality has little to no say on the topic.

He grits his teeth and swiftly turns around, clenching his fists till they turned white as he recalls Sai's words about half an hour ago.

"_I don't think you understand what I'm implying here. Sasuke-kun is a traitor and I have no intention of becoming his replacement, or turning into anything like him. Only consider me as a temporary member of Team Seven; I don't plan on staying here for much longer, not in a team that supports a traitor."_

"Naruto," he hears Sakura say but doesn't say anything in response. There isn't anything to say to begin with, so he slightly turns his head and looks at her over her shoulder, his right eye hidden by the strands of his hair.

She turned her back to Kakashi and Sai, too, so now she allows herself to reveal her true emotions, or so Naruto likes to think. For the most part, she's angry, her forehead frowning so hard he begins to wonder whether she will have marks there later on; her eyes burn in that familiar fashion and he isn't sure if it's the shadow from a nearby tree that makes her green eyes change to a darker colour. But he also sees her turmoil: she wants to hit Sai, alright, but something prevents her from doing it and it physically hurts him because he has not a slightest idea why she's holding herself back, because it can't be for their sake. If she hit Sai, Kakashi and himself would just stand back and let them sort it out, and Naruto would definitely beat the crap out of that bastard if he tried to hit Sakura, never mind the fact that she can very well do it herself.

She makes a step in his direction, another, and then one more, so that she is standing right besides him and in that moment Naruto feels the urge to just give in to his desires and hug her like there's no tomorrow.

When she slowly raises her head and offers it to him, he doesn't hesitate and holds it in his, admiring the warmth and comfort it provides. Jiraya once said that holding your loved ones always feels different from when you hold your dear friends, and he has no intention of disagreeing with this fact.

He lets their hands drop, his warm fingers squeezing her cold ones, and he smiles at her; it's not one of his ordinary smiles either - her smiles at her from the corner of his mouth and when he receives the same smile in return, he's confident that she knows what he's thinking. This makes her forehead even out and she's no longer frowning. That's good. He hates to see her in distress.

Naruto blinks, once, twice, and then the spell is broken, yet he still lives in this world where, in order to protect his loved ones, he has to fight and kill. He feels her small hand gradually warming from the body heat that he - or, rather, the Nine Tails - produces which makes him almost see goose bumps on her arms, and it makes him think of how fragile human beings are.

He's just a ninja, he thinks, a human with a fixed life span, and so is she. Humans can die from almost everything, and here they are, arguing with some nutcase instead of training to get stronger and get their original Team Seven back.

_One of them can die on some D-rank mission and the other one won't know about it until much later._

She squeezes back and he stops getting all philosophical and shit because he's Naruto Uzumaki, dammit, and he's not going to sit in the corner, sulking about the inevitability of life.

It is to his surprise when she lifts her head, takes a deep breath and, still looking at him, shouts at their teammates. "Oi, me and Naruto are going out. Deal with it."

He doesn't want to tease her, but in all truthfulness her cheeks are scarlet and he's pretty sure that if it was snowing, little snowflakes would melt almost immediately at the faintest contact with her cheeks. She is frowning again, but not it's because she tries - fruitlessly, to say the least - to cover up her embarrassment by looking pissed of. She should know better than to pull this thing on him, Naruto thinks to himself and follows Sakura's example. "Hell yeah, so you better stop reading porn when you are near my _girlfriend,_ Kakashi-sensei. And you, emotionless dude, should stop making dick jokes," he says out loud, referring to the inappropriate jokes from earlier.

"Ah, so I _was _right, they _are _together," Sai muses to himself but Naruto can barely hear him. Instead, he begins to walk and pulls Sakura along with him, practically laughing at the hilarious look on her face; surprisingly, her face became even _redder _when he said his part.

Sakura warns him that she will hit him if he doesn't stop, but he only continues walking, trying not to look back at Kakashi's shocked face (and yeah, he's pretty sure Kakashi is shocked, alright - who wouldn't be).

When he is sure they are far enough and their teammates can't hear them, he stops and lets go of her hand. There is a short moment of hesitation before Sakura completely removes her hand and straightens her skirt, coughing nervously in the process.

"That was totally uncalled for, baka," she says with squinted eyes, folding her arms on her chest but Naruto doesn't think she's angry; if she was, she would've given him an uppercut the moment he began tugging her in his direction. But then again, this would have probably blown their cover.

He replies to her silent question with a sheepish grin, "Gomen, Sakura-chan, just wanted to get away from that creepy dude and our perverted sensei."

He doesn't expand on his answer and she doesn't push him to, so they stand there for a moment, simply enjoying the silence. Well, at least _he _is - he can almost see gears in her head turning with a speed of light; interrupting her seems not only stupid, but also life-threatening.

"What do you think of him?" she finally says and he licks his lips because that was the last question he expected her to ask. What did he think of that pale freak? His mind was occupied with words like _jerk _and _moron_, but he doesn't plan to voice his actual thought - he's sure Sakura already thought of all of them before asking him.

So what _does _he think of that dude, apart from his social awkwardness and how _stupid _he looks like in that outfit? Well, Naruto supposes that he _can _be a nice guy, but he definitely needs someone to guide him; someone that will teach him of how to act in certain social situations and that will bring out his emotional side. No, Naruto would still hate the guy for being so rude to Sasuke (and his own dick, but that's another story altogether) but at least others won't hate him as much.

He doubted anyone's dislike for the guy would outshine his and Sakura's; they met him less than an hour ago and already despised him with a burning passion.

"He's... odd," Naruto says in the end. "He's emotionless, somewhat arrogant and it feels like he lived in a cave for the last fifteen years because, seriously, _who dresses like that anymore?!_"

She snorts but silently agrees with his answer, finding it adequate. When he gives her a questioning look, she tells him of her true thoughts, "He's all of these things but if we want to work together, we will have to deal with him weird side. I'm not implying that we have to spend more time with him, but I think that some small conversations might break the ice."

They exchange a few more thoughts on how to deal with Sai and Naruto doesn't stop her when she waves at him and leaves, mentioning something about getting ready for their mission and that she has to tell her parents that she will be missing.

He is sure that he will have more than enough time to question her about her odd behaviour during their mission because there just _has _to be more to it than this. Naruto wonders if, perhaps, they have seen each other before but if they did, Sai did a great job at covering it up.

He puts his hands in his pockets and slowly goes back to the said freak and his sensei. He silently promises Sakura not to attack Sai with rasengan if he dares to mention one more of his dirty jokes, but there is nothing that stops Naruto from attacking him with kunais and his shadow clones.

Today was sure turning out to be a _looong _day.

xxxx

_A/N: *screams from the top of the mountain* OOC! OOC! but seriously, this was so OOC I did a 'what the hell' face when I reread it, too... yet I still like it this way, so here ya go (ay, I don't hate Sai, by the way, he's a nice guy... I made him seem like a complete douchebag for this fic)_

_I am so so sorry guys but I gotta revise for my three exams now, so I will be taking a break until Tue, 9th of Dec, after which I will continue my daily updates. Again, I'm really sorry and the most I can ask of you is to wait for me :)_

_P.S. I'm not going to watch "Naruto The movie: The last" when it comes out for a number of reasons, are you? Give me a shout_


	5. Chapter 5

_Here is a longer chapter, guys... so that I can actually call these small chunks 'chapters' because I'm not used to writing so little per one chapter lol. This means that updates will come every 2nd/ 3rd day which should still be alright._

_P. S. I wrote this chapter while taking breaks from my revision, so please excuse the fact that some bits aren't connected as much as I would want them to :3 Also, my grammar sucks and you are amazing for reading this_

xxxx

There is a thin line between being a shinobi and an ordinary civilian, and she knows it. Better than others, actually. Albeit the obvious differences between the two, shinobi are, first and foremost, concerned with completing their task... and remaining emotionless in the process. Civilians are allowed to do as they will and, Sakura notes bitterly, they can show as many emotions as they want.

And even though Sakura isn't completely weak - that much she can tell herself - she is bad in controlling emotions.

So when she catches Naruto's thoughtful gaze on her, everything in him practically screaming 'I know that something if off yet you won't tell me, dammit', she knows that she failed in keeping her emotions in check. She expected him to question her on the topic, to ask what the _hell _was that all about and why wouldn't she tell him, hence when he didn't, she felt like repeatedly blinking and telling him everything on her own.

But no, she should resist. If she tells him about Sai, there will be consequences, for both her and Naruto. And it's not an ordinary type of consequences, either - both of them won't be simply told off. Oh no, they will be discarded of their ninja protectors and will be forever prohibited from becoming ninjas again... in the best case scenario.

She doesn't allow herself to ponder over the topic for much longer and by the time Sakura reaches her house, her thoughts are set straight the upcoming mission.

"Sakura?" her mother calls out when Sakura almost enters her room. She turns around and smiles at her.

"Ohayo, Okaa-san. I thought that you and dad already left the house?"

"Oh, your dad is at work, but I have a day-off so I decided to spend it by cleaning up the house and doing major shopping," Mebuki says and shakes her head. "Either way, why are you here? I thought I overheard one of the ladies in a supermarket saying that Naruto Uzumaki came back..."

Sakura groans and facepalms herself. Oh God, how could she have forgotten to visit Ino and tell her that herself and Naruto are now dating? Things will get really ugly really quickly if Yamanaka finds out about it from someone else.

"I've already went to see him," she throws over her shoulder and enters her room, leaving the door wide open so that her mum can actually hear her. "Kakashi-sensei introduced us to the new member of Team Seven and we are leaving soon - for a mission."

"Ah, I see," Mebuki says and enters her daughter's room a moment later. "So, how is Naruto-kun?"

Sakura doesn't give her an immediate answer because, well, there is no such thing as a 'right answer' when it comes to telling your mum about a guy that you are apparently dating but not _really_.

"He is... fine. He got much stronger," she replies in all honesty, from what she was able to gather in Naruto and Sai's sparring. She understands that it's not what her mother implies by asking her this sort of question, but what _can _she say? That he got rather tall and, dare she say it, _handsome? _That every time she looks at him it feels like she's facing the Sun itself? It is weird as heck _thinking _about Naruto, of all people, like this, so she has no intentions of voicing her true thoughts.

"Hmm? I see."

There is an awkward pause and Sakura tries not to fidget while she's packing her travelling bag. Bandages, medicine, scrolls-

"So this new teammate... Is he good-looking?"

This time she chokes and turns around because, yeah, her _father _would say something like that due to his carefree nature, but she hasn't expected this sort of thing from her mum. Is there a polite way to tell her mother to stop pestering her about opposite sex?

Apart from this, she feels like someone is watching her. It has been this way for month, since the day she found out the whole truth about-

She curses at herself for thinking about it _again _and steals a glance at the nearest window. No, there is no one, and even is Danzo sent one of his people to watch her, they wouldn't be able to read her thoughts.

She hopes.

"Mum, imagine a ghost," she says frankly, trying to say as little about her new teammate as she can, "in a black outfit and you get Sai."

Her mum laughs but Sakura herself doesn't feel like doing so - not when her words were _so freaking accurate_. Either way, she senses that her mother has something else to say so she gets right to it, "What?"

Mebuki raises her eyebrows, waiting for her to elaborate on the question.

"What _else _do you want to know about Naruto and Sai? Or is it about Kakashi-sensei?"

"Nothing like that, Sakura," she replies after a moment but continues anyway. "I was just wondering..."

"Yes?"

Pinkette can see it as clear as day that the question her mother has in her mind will make Sakura uncomfortable, but she decides to push the matter anyway. If she doesn't spill it out now, she will hold it in and will continue to do so until she will _explode_ with the need to tell someone; but then again, she isn't likely to share whatever it is she has to say with Sakura's father because the latter one will take it way too easily and will blabber something about Sakura being his 'little girl'.

Sakura knows it for a fact - this has happened too many times for her liking. The most vivid memory of her father being his embarrassing and awkward self in front of her friends came from years ago. A few weeks before she graduated from the Academy, he dropped by to 'pay her a visit' and, looking at the guy that sat next to her, told him to back off and not even think about going after his 'beautiful flower'. Sakura can clearly recall how hard it was to get Ino and some other girls off her back, seeing as 'the guy' that next to her was Uchiha Sasuke himself; besides, being called a 'beautiful flower' at the age of twelve in front of your peers isn't the best thing in the world however you look at it.

She is drawn back to reality when she hears how her mum is explaining something to her. She blinks a few times and tries to listen to what her mother is saying, but her words are going right through Sakura's ears.

Her mind only registers the last words that are said to her, "But that's none of my business, of course."

She is totally confused, he mind filled with _how_s and _what_s, but she catches a glimpse of the only clock in her room and her mind begins buzzing with words like 'mission' and 'still have to see Ino', so she pretends like she heard everything and begins to rapidly throw things into her bag.

"As much as I love you, it _is _none of your business, Mum," she says apologetically and it takes her no more than thirty seconds to finish packing. She throws her backpack over her shoulder, throws keys in the side pocket, kisses her mother on the cheek and she is out of the door like she was never there in the first place.

She remember the route to Ino's house from her own just like Naruto knows every single flavour in Ichiraku; it is imprinted into her memory and she doubts it will leave any time soon. And talking about Ichiraku... jee, what was that all about? Ino left them and quietly told Sakura to find her later and tell her about their... development, whatever the heck _that _means. She also made a few dirty implications, but Sakura refuses to think of them, in fear of being discovered.

Yeah, Danzo's mind-reading ninjas. That's just her being paranoid, then.

She isn't surprised when she doesn't find Ino at her house and swiftly apologises to her best friend's mother for being a nuisance, to which the latter one only shakes her head. "What are you talking, Sakura-chan, you are always welcome here."

She then decides to visit training grounds in case Ino and the rest of her team are still training. When she finally manages to locate her blonde and slightly ignorant best friend, Sakura only rolls her eyes. As expected, Ino is telling others what to do, while she and Asuma-sensei are discussing something. She stands next to a tree for a few minutes, simply observing her best friend, and eventually leaves the shadows, making her presence obvious to Team Ten.

"Forehead Girl!" she hears Ino scream and in response waves at her.

"Ohayo, Pig. Didn't know if it was the right time to interrupt your _training _session." There is no way Ino can miss the saltiness in her words - and she doesn't, glaring at Sakura as if she has just swallowed a bunch of lemons for a bet but didn't expect them to be _this _bitter.

"Tsk, it's funny I'm hearing it from you, of all people, seeing as you haven't been training that much lately."

Sakura grants her with a confused look so Ino only sighs and tries to expand on her statement, "Well, have you done much training _in the last couple of hours?_"

This time Sakura doesn't miss the double meaning (and Ino's suggestive smirk). Instead of attacking her head-on, however, she decides to first get rid of their 'watchers'. "Do you mind if me and Ino have a girl-to-girl talk somewhere in the woods, Asuma-san?"

"Only if it's not for too long, girls - we still have to finish our combat training," says Asuma with a small shrug. He takes out a new pack of cigarettes and a seemingly old lighter, and his next words come with a blow of smoke. "Choji, Shikamaru, you can take a break, too - I noticed how hard-working you were for the past hour."

"What? But Ino didn't do much, comparing to us," Choji complains with a slight whine but no one pays attention to his words.

For once, Sakura is happy that Ino's teacher is someone as laid-back as Sarutobi Asuma; it's not like she was never happy about it before today, but she has to admit that it never affected her before today. Now, if Ino had someone like Kurenai as her teacher, the latter one would've probably made both of them complete a certain training in genjustsu before letting them go for a few minutes.

When she is certain that they won't be overheard by Ino's team, Sakura stops in her tracks and leans back on one of the trees, her arms crossed over her chest and her face practically screaming 'what the hell are you doing, saying this sort of thing if front of your teammates?!' and some other explicit words.

"So here we are," Ino says casually, though her body language is far from relaxed and Sakura can clearly spot that. "Want to tell me something, Forehead Girl?"

Sakura takes a deliberate breath and tells herself that shouting at the top of her lungs 'you have no idea what kind of mess I have gotten myself into' isn't the best idea. Maybe later, when most of her braincells are dead, she is more or less intoxicated and they are far, far away from Konoha cause someone can overhear them and tell others about 'the crazy doctor Haruno'. She kinda hopes that it won't happen for another sixty or so years, and then she plans to embrace the fact that her brain doesn't operate better than that of a vegetable. Oh wait, what was she thinking about in the first place?

"Tell me," Ino says with a playful pout, though she clearly doesn't need it, what with her big plum lips and all. "Has something happened between you two? Did you try one of the tricks I taught you, like casually putting your palm on his shoulder and laughing, all the while constantly touching your hair? Ooh, or maybe you _accidentally _dropped your ramen right onto his lap and had to quickly wipe it off with a tissue?"

Nah, Sakura doesn't think that it will take her sixty plus years to turn into a vegetable - her braincells are dying out whenever Ino opens her mouth and talks about boys and love. "No, I haven't acted as lewd as you would act in my situation. Me and Naruto had a talk... and it turns out that we have mutual feelings."

Ino's eyes widen and quite drastically so, from what Sakura can tell - there is barely any light around them due to the trees and their shadows. If she tried, Sakura is sure she would be able to read emotions on her friend's face without trying, but Yamanaka is such a loud and expressive person... she will voice all of her thoughts herself.

"Wha- How- but what about our lessons?!" Ino cries out and throws her hands in the air, her face full of desperation.

Oh, so that's what bothered her so much. Sakura is a bit disappointed, if only because she expected a much more vivid response.

"Ino, do you not understand what I'm telling you?" she grits through her teeth and feels her pulse raising. _Calm down, Sakura, just caaalm down. _"Me and Naruto are dating. We are a couple. We like each other the way we are so I don't need to flirt with him in order to gain his attention." She registers her own words and silently admits that, yeah, that wasn't the best thing to say, cause it will most likely piss Ino off and lead to actual questionnaire, for God's sake.

"Okay," Ino says with a calming breath. "Okay."

After a pause, she adds, "I was simply surprised that you guys are finally dating. I mean, yeah, I was hoping that you will go out when he comes back because you will completely swoon him but it seems like I had nothing to worry about... though he came back today and you are _already _dating!"

Sakura can sense how Ino adds one and once and sees that something is off. Everything has happened way too quickly - and perfectly, for that matter. That's not how prince and his princess are supposed to get together, at least not in Ino's favourite fairy tales, and Sakura know it better than anyone, for Ino herself has quoted them dozens and dozens of times. Yeah, sure, in their case Sakura is the one that falls in love with a prince - with a wild, blonde, bat-shit crazy, yet amazing prince - and it's her turn to pursue his heart, but the prince gives in way too quickly. And, Sakura thinks to herself with an upcoming sense of dread, what were the odds that Naruto still liked her, after all these years and constant rejection from her side?

Oh, boy, they _really _haven't thought this through, but if anyone was completely shocked today it just _had _to be Sakura. Naruto, too, of course, but really it was Sakura.

As expected (Sakura knows her best friend way too well), Ino asks her a few questions about their exchange of confessions (Was it romantic? Was it cliche? Did you manage to confess to him without stuttering, Forehead?) and Sakura tries to answer her as honestly as she can (Well, sort of. No, at least I don't think so. Shut up, Pig, _you _would be the one stuttering when you confess to someone.)

"I still think it is weird, if you ask me," Ino says in some time. They already finished talking about Sakura's 'confession' and Ino gradually calms down. "You and Naruto... it just doesn't seem right, you know? You were pinning after Sasuke for so long, and now you straight out tell me that you have given up on him a long time ago and have harboured feelings for this ramen-loving, loud-mouth idiot... Your standards have surely dropped, if you ask me, Forehead Girl."

Despite her words, Sakura can't find it in herself to be pissed of with the way she worded her statement because, under all of this teasing and cheekiness, she can see it as clearly as if she is reading Ino's mind: Yamanaka is simply playing with her and doesn't mean most of what she says. It makes Sakura feel more confident about herself, because there is no such thing as having too much of you friend's support, especially when it comes to going out and other personal issues.

All of a sudden, she feels guilty, and she doesn't want to feel guilty, dammit, because it's a tad bit too late now. She wants to tell Ino that all of this was a play and that she doesn't actually like Naruto (because she _doesn't - _not the way she liked Sasuke years ago), but how would it help her case?

She can't deny the fact that, for the most part, she if afraid of Naruto's reaction, were she to break this (arrangement, thing) 'dating' off after 'going out' for a few hours. God, would he ever look at her again?

But she will have to break up sometime in the future. Maybe if she waits for a bit... a few months or so and then both of them will get tired of each other and Naruto will _certainly _agree with her that this arrangement was a bit tedious and they weren't that great when it came to dating. The whole idea is laughable, though, because Naruto - the Naruto that she knows and cares about - wouldn't do it in a hundred years.

_Because he still harbours some feelings for you, _her inner voice sing-songs but she shuts it off and turns to her brain for help. For now, it doesn't have a solution and keeps dead silent.

"Then what about you and that guy from 'Everything for 100 yen' shop? He is not only working for his dad, but I also heard that he is flirting with every single one of his customers, be it man., woman or an underage, like you."

"Pshh, Sakura, please, you could have tried better," Ino chokes on how absurd Sakura's words are. "I have asked around and it seems like this guy is free - free like a bird! You know what that means, Sakura."

Phrase 'free like a bird' has no meaning to Sakura whatsoever; being Hokage's apprentice, she is used to retreating birds from Konoha's main office and seeing all of them being stuck in there until they were no longer able to fly for long distances or received a serious injury. She recalls one of her first weeks as Tsunade-sama student: she had to retrieve one of the birds and bring it to a specialised doctor because apparently, there was something wrong with that bird. As it turned out, it had a serious infection and died soon after that, so Sakura felt a certain bitterness whenever she had to pass by birds' cages.

She sees no meaning in discussing Ino's personal life, as much as she loves and cherishes her, because there are hundreds of other things she would be doing, rather than listen to her friend's explanation of how 'amazingly stunning' this guy is. Sure, he doesn't look too bad, but Sakura has neither the time nor the energy to talk about some random guy that Ino will probably stop caring about in a week or so; that's not to say that she changes guys like she changes gloves - it is simply the fact that Ino is naturally inclined to be attracted to guys that can potentially protect her, be it financially of physically.

Again, it's not necessarily a bad trait, but Sakura admits that she would never want to be anything like that.

"Anyhow, I have to go - we have a mission and I have to meet my team soon," Sakura says abruptly, cutting Ino's passionate speech about how much her potential boyfriend earns.

"Then I will go with you."

Sakura tries not to glare - she really does but she is failing, that much is obvious. "Why would you do that? What about your team?"

"Oh, I will only check out your current situation and then I will be off, don't worry," Ino says with a wink. "I won't pester you too much."

Check out? Current situation? She better have implied something else than what Sakura is thinking about... But a naughty glimpse in her eyes tells pinkette the opposite.

Yeah, Ino is talking about the progress in Sakura and Naruto's relationship, and isn't even trying to hide this fact. So how can Sakura make her think over this decision?

There isn't a way, as simple as that, so she mentally gives up and tells Ino to follow her. She already arranges a plan in her mind of what she is going to say and how she is going to act around Naruto to show Ino that they _are _a couple, as well as somehow signalling to Naruto to act in a similar manner and not freak out because of how weird she is.

Oh, it's going to be a piece of cake.

"When we talked about Naruto's return with Asuma, he noted that you have a new teammate," Ino says a moment later and Sakura tries (really hard, by the way!) not to glare at her best friend. Her mum, but version 2.0?

"Yeah, his name is Sai and he resembles death in a crop top," she answers without a second thought, already knowing the next question. "And yes, he does look like Sasuke but only a bit. I think he would be your type."

"Aaa, I see," the latter says with a dreamy smile and snickers. "I was gonna say that he's probably your type, too, but seeing as you have a big-ass crush on Naruto..."

Suddenly, Sakura is pretty sure that, were she to run off right now, Ino won't have enough strength to catch up with her and will just let her be. Either way, anything is better than your best friend talking about your pseudo crush as if it's just a little detail and that you can fall for your weird and pale teammate any moment now. Well, there is also that, and the fact that she referred to her feelings as being a 'big-ass crush'.

"You know, in comparison, I think your guy from the 'Everything for 100 yen' is way better," she says with an encouraging smile, though everything inside her screams 'both of them are equally bad'. She knows for a fact that harmless seller has nothing against someone like Sai: an ex-ANBU and-

"If you find him attractive, just tell me so," Ino says with a shrug. "There is nothing wrong when a girl in relationship finds someone besides her boyfriend attractive, too. And anyway, what about his personality, and please don't tell me that you don't know because then you will be lying to me."

With a slight roll of her eyes and a cough, Sakura tells her _exactly _what she thinks of her new teammate and by the time she is finished with her ranting, they already approach the spot of Team Seven's meeting.

Both girls instantly notice Naruto and come towards him with Ino slightly nudging Sakura to go forward and give him a hug. Sakura is glad that he is standing with his back turned towards them, because this prevents him from seeing how she violently steps on her best friend's foot and shows Ino her intimidating fist.

'Go hug him,' Ino mouths without making a sound and Sakura frowns.

'Don't tell me what to do, Ino-Pig,' she replies silently.

Yet when they look at Naruto once again, Sakura understands that she has to do it, or she risks being exposed by her best friend. She sums up her courage, praying to Lord almighty that Naruto catches up with her actions, and takes a step forward. Five more, and she is standing right behind him, and she tries her hardest to inhale and exhale without giving herself away. It's not hard around Naruto though, seeing as every single one of his inhales and exhales are loud; as if he was running for a whole mile in order to get here...

Sakura mentally facepalms herself because, well, he _might _have done it to see her sooner. God, how embarrassing - she can even see the beads of sweat running down his neck and disappearing behind his jumpsuit's collar. But there is no point of trying to get out of this, so she might as well go for it and act all lovey-dovey.

She starts to lift her arms, slowly but surely, her hands trembling and her heart beating faster and faster the closer her arms are to him. She can imagine how weird this should look like if anyone is looking at them right now (well, anyone _besides_ Ino) but she can't bring herself to do it faster. Sakura admits to herself that she would have given him a hug much faster if they weren't pretending to be a couple, because in that case everyone would think that it's purely platonic and there is no romantic undertone. Now things are significantly different.

Finally, her arms have risen to a level where she can circle them around his midsection, and she proceeds to do so at the slowest rate possible. She feels Naruto slightly jump up at the contact and vigorously turn his head to his right, but the moment their gazes intersect, his shoulders notably relax; the same can't be said about his eyes, though, because they are wide open, staring into hers as if he is looking for an answer.

"S-Sakura-chan?" he lets out after a few seconds and she nervously licks her lips, thinking of the best way to inform him that someone is watching them.

"Hi, Naruto," Sakura says gently and gives him a reassuring smile, though if she saw her own reflection at that moment, she would know that her smile was anything but reassuring. Completely terrified? Scared shitless? That's about right.

She slowly puts her weight on her toes and tiptoes to stand even closer to him. "Ino came along," she whispers into his ear and to anyone looking it would seem like she was whispering sweet nothings into his ear. Oh, how wrong they would be by assuming so.

Naruto's eyes aren't as wide anymore and he whispers a low 'oh', turning his gaze downwards. Sakura isn't sure, but does he look... upset? Upset because Ino is here or because she is hugging him to prove something to Ino? She isn't sure, but she doesn't have time to question him on the topic - Ino's gaze is definitely digging holes in her backside.

She links her hands over his stomach and nudges him to turn around with her chin settled nicely on his shoulder, though it required a certain amount of virtue to turn around like this. In fact, it takes them about ten seconds, but then they are facing Ino and the latter one seems like she is about to snort at how sweet this scene is.

"So, Naruto-kun," she says teasingly, "Sakura told me of what happened between the two of you and that you are an official couple now. I don't mind, though I kind of expected her to settle on someone... else, but you have to remember who you are going out with."

"Yeah," Naruto says, looking completely dumbstruck, and Sakura resists kicking him because his current face expression looks nothing like that of a guy who's in love. Or something.

"First of all, you have to treat her gently," Ino begins with a knowing smile of a 'been there, done that'. "Take her out and treat her in good restaurants - forget about Ichiraku, that won't do."

"Ino, I don't mind Ichiraku," Sakura claims with an exasperated sigh. Okay, so now Ino is going to control their relationship and tell them what to do? No, thanks, Sakura already knows how to make bento, when to hug him and so on.

Ino raises her eyebrow at the statement as she looks anything but convinced. "Oh, right, I forgot it's _you _we are talking about." Sakura isn't offended in the slightest, seeing as Yamanaka is simply teasing her - once again - but by the way Naruto's chest tenses under her arms and worry lines form under his eyes, he doesn't get that Ino is simply joking around. Sakura turns her hear - just a bit - and whispers as subtly as possible, "Don't worry, she's just being her usual self."

"Hey, stop whispering and exchanging loving glances while I'm here," Ino shouts out and continues with her list of conditions. "Alright, so Naruto, you also have to carry her whenever she is extremely tired, be it after mission or if she just finished her night shift."

"Ino!"

"Sure," Naruto says and although he still looks a bit confused, he is no longer as dumbstruck as he was just moments ago. "I know that when people are dating, they have to take care of each other, so I will do it for Sakura-chan whenever she needs it, just as she will carry me on her back if I'm really tired from fighting rogue ninjas!" He finishes his phrase with a thumb up and a beaming smile, but it doesn't change the fact that his previous words has got to be the dumbest words he has ever uttered.

Pinkette can see how lost Ino is, trying to figure out if he's joking or not, but Sakura knows better, and it makes her silently groan. He _really _has no idea what to do and how to act when it comes to dating someone, even if it is pretended.

"Yo!"

Kakashi's sudden appearance breaks the tension, along with Sai suddenly appearing in front of them. Sensing that all of their gazes are directed at him, Sai answers them with a fake smile, "I didn't know when was the right way to come out and announce my presence, seeing as Naruto-kun and Sakura were having their romantic moment."

Sakura doubts her face can become any redder than it is now, but then again, it has a tendency of surprising her with a burning blush. She is certain that Naruto can feel her hot cheeks, seeing as her face is placed right next to his neck.

She is taken aback when his own neck is light-pink itself. Is he just as embarrassed as she is?!

xxxx

_A/N: I have a compelling urge to write drama. I know, I know, I promised to make this fanfic fluffy and happy, but I really want to include some drama/ gore/ blood bc how can one call it a 'love story' if characters don't suffer from time to time, ne? (Idk tell me if you'd rather avoid drama altogether) From here onwards I have also decided to mix up Naruto & Sakura's POVs in one chapters, seeing as it's quite hard to write 5k chapters from only one person's point of view. Because this fanfic is about a hetero couple, there is no need to even give their names - I can just refer to them as 'he' and 'she' (trust me, writing yaoi/ yuri POV fanfics is much more challenging)_

_Anyway, I hope to hear from you soon, guys. Thanks for reading!_


	6. Chapter 6

"Our first mission is to retrieve a scroll from a small temple in Takahagi - a small village that is located on the south of Land of Fire. Although the reward for it is small, I hope that all of you are aware that it's not money we are after - the whole point is to improve our teamwork. I will inform you of the other three missions later on."

Kakashi's words are still hanging in the air when Sai looks up from the map in his hands and announces, "I'm afraid that this mission is pointless."

Sakura rolls her eyes and Naruto can't help but say something. "Well, if it's so pointless for you, why don't you abandon it all together and go back to doing whatever it is you were doing before you joined us? And what was it, by the way? Kakashi-sensei never said where you came from cause I never saw you in the Academy."

Everyone around him suddenly falls silent and he is slightly confused because he sort of expected them to back him up and here they are, as silent as a bunch of goldfish. Sai's eyes don't tell him anything new; in fact, they are cold and distant and the guy doesn't even try to do that 'fake smiling' thing again - which makes Naruto happy, in all truthfulness, but also alarms him that something is wrong. Kakashi prefers to step aside and pretend that he checks his map, but Naruto can clearly see that his only visible eye isn't moving, staring into one point on the map. Sakura... he doesn't spend much time looking at her face, fearing that it will be the same as Sai's - distant and unresponsive.

He just wants someone to be honest with him and here they are, doing the same thing as they did back then.

_"Sakura-chan, as soon as I come back from my training we will go after Sasuke together, okay?"_

_"Naruto..."_

_"We will do what it takes, dattebayo! I am leaving with Jiji and will come back really strong, so you better train and become a great kunoichi, too!"_

That time he could see that she had something else to say but she was restraining herself from doing so for some reason he wasn't aware of.

A few seconds later Sai is the one to break the tension by explaining himself. "We will spend more money on travelling than we will receive for completing it. Even if this mission isn't carrying any financial benefit, I doubt Hokage-sama would allow us to waste money-"

"Calm down, Sai," Kakashi finally steps in with his eyes still on the map. "It is not something you have to be worried about - it's all covered."

"Understood, Hatake-san."

"Maa, you can call me 'Kakashi-sensei' like Naruto and Sakura do."

Naruto can see that Sai is thinking about the idea (_is he honestly considering it right now?!) _and then gradually nodding. "Will do... Kakashi-sensei."

"Good," Kakashi says with a definite nod and folds his map, hiding it in his travelling bag without looking. "Now that we resolved with issue - and Naruto doesn't seem so moody anymore - we can go! I will be in lead, Sakura and Sai - in the middle. Naruto, I ask of you to cover our backs."

"Heeeh?!" Sakura and Naruto let out with a 'what the heck are you even on about, Kakashi-sensei, have you read too much Icha Icha?' all over their faces.

Sakura quickly explains her situation, all the while motioning to Sai, "I don't want to be placed with... him. I get it you want us to get along but I don't see this happening any time soon."

"And I don't want to be covering your backs or whatever you call it, Kakashi-sensei," Naruto says, supporting Sakura's statement with a vigorous nod.

"Now, now, I get it that you are a couple now," Sakura and Naruto fall silent at Kakashi's words but he continues anyway, "yet you should know better - you can't show your affection towards each other or it will jeopardise the mission. We don't want that, do we?"

Both of them stiffly shake their heads and steal a glance at each other. Naruto can see that Sakura's cheeks are bright red, but he's pretty sure his own ears are, too. He silently notes that they need to figure out how to get out of these embarrassing situations in future or they won't live till the end of this month.

"So to break off this tension between you two, I am placing Sakura with Sai and you, Naruto, at the far back. This way you won't be distracting each other," Kakashi explains and shrugs as if it is as simple as one plus one.

Naruto and Sakura have nothing else to do but to agree. Without a further ado, Kakashi points to the south and off they go.

xxxx

She constantly tries to ignore it but how can she, seeing as _his _gaze is burning holes in her back? It's not his fault - of course it's not his fault! It's all thanks to Kakashi-sensei and his brilliant 'I don't want you to distract each other' plan that created this mess and now she can't stop thinking about his goddamn eyes staring at the back of her head!

Or back. Or maybe he's simply watching her run and she's just exaggerating.

Either way, Sakura isn't happy because she can't concentrate and that's a very dangerous thing, especially if you are travelling across the country where anyone can attack you if you aren't careful enough. They left Konoha left Konoha less than an hour ago and she felt like Naruto is watching her ever since.

At first, she was going to turn around, look him dead in the eyes and tell him to stop - that would probably make it absolutely clear what she means and he would stop. End of story.

Another plan was to simply slow down and, when Naruto caught up with them, hit him right in the head, shouting something about perverts and that he's turning into his beloved teacher. Not the best way to get rid of the problem? Perhaps, but then again she never got into situation like this.

Her third option was to just throw a casual 'stop staring at my bum' over her shoulder (she could recall Ino doing something similar a few weeks ago when they left for a mission with a different team) but then she would probably die of embarrassment, much like Hyuuga Hinata always did whenever she saw Naruto, so that was a big 'no no'.

In the end, Sakura decided to let it go, so she is now following her teacher with a silent team-mate by her side and a loud-mouth one right behind her.

_I can at least steal a glance, right?_

She peeks over her shoulder, making it look like she's removing a leaf from her hair and curiously looking out for Naruto. Instead of looking at her, however, Sakura finds him staring at the skies with a thoughtful look on his face. The wind blows his short hair as he jumps from branch to branch and there is just something in the way his irises contract because of the glimpses of sun that fall through the leaves-

Sakura pauses herself and blinks but doesn't slow down because that will surely give her away. His eyes... they contracted in a similar manner whenever Naruto fought and something powerful took a hold of him. _That _sort of contracting is bad.

And since when is she so poetic in her own head, especially about a human being? Sure, one can think about how beautiful and fleeting the nature is, but thinking about the _way the wind blows his hair?! _What was that all about?

'Though he does look quite poetic,' she thinks and tries not to feel guilty about it. This thoughtful expression on his face, this wise look... she wonders what has he been through.

But then he giggles in that perverted manner of his and she hears a quiet 'yeah Ero-sennin would like that', and the spell is broken because, yeah, he most definitely _is _Jiraya-sama's student, yet she feels too lazy to hit him for being perverted.

They travel at the same pace for the next four hours when Kakashi finally tells them that they can take a break. Instead of pausing, Sakura resumes running, throws her backpack to the ground, jumps off a tree and falls right into a comfortably cooling stream nearby. She isn't surprised when Naruto does pretty much the same, and it's all thanks to extremely hot weather and the fact that they had to travel for _so freaking long without taking a break!_

"Sa-a-akura-chan, do you have some onigiri?" she hears Naruto say right next to her but she isn't certain whether it is the real Naruto or she's just hallucinating. She decides to poke him in his cheek; yep, seems pretty real to her.

"Baka, it's the temperature of Hell outside, why on Earth would I take onigiri with me?! They would fry and dry out in a matter of minutes... or at least that's what my Mum said."

"Heee? That's sad." And she can tell that he's generally upset, judging by the look of utter disappointment and betrayal on his face. "But you have a sandwich or something else in your bag, right?"

"I do," she cautiously says and steals a glance at her backpack, praying that Naruto doesn't see that. "So what of it? What with all that travelling you've done, Jiraya-sama has surely taught you how much food you need to take with you for a 24-hours travelling, right?"

Naruto looks deep in thought for a moment and then he's up, rushing in an unknown direction.

"Oi, you pale freak, what the heck are you doing to my bag?!"

"I was just looking if you have any food yourself and you are simply annoying Sakura-san."

"It's called going out, weirdo! I wanted Sakura-chan to feed me her food like civilian girls do to their boyfriends," Naruto grumbles in response and Sakura can't help but giggle. In fact, it's such a girly giggle that for a second she isn't sure whether it is her who giggled. She figures she just can't help it, though - she doubts Naruto knows much about relationship and going out and here he is, trying his best.

'He's trying his best because it's about you,' says her inside voice but she only waves it off because, really, what right does she have to think this way and make unnecessary assumptions? Sure, he said that he still has feelings for her... Sakura squints and tries to make out what's happening in the nearby bushes because there is most certainly something _moving _but she doesn't want to attack, only for it to turn out to be a rabbit or something.

"Maybe it is, indeed, a part of your so-called courtship, but I don't see how this can-"

"That's because no one asked you, yeah? I don't know if you are playing around or you generally don't get that what you are saying is complete gibberish and you know nothing about human feelings, but that's just stupid - and not to mention really low!"

"At least my temper doesn't get the best of me."

Sakura picks herself up, wiping the remaining water off her face with her sleeve and casually walks towards Kakashi. She stumbles a bit just as she walks past her teacher and just about manages to whisper, "We are watched."

Kakashi nods and she isn't certain what it means - did he already know or did he acknowledge her deductive skills? - but she supposes that, for a genius like Kakashi, it was pretty simple to notice that someone was watching them.

xxxx

Naruto pauses mid-sentence and sniffs. Years of training with Jiraya has proven themselves to be effective, yes, but what Ero-sennin didn't know is that Naruto spent countless nights training with the Nine-Tails and developing their communication skills... or as close to it as he was able to, seeing as Kyuubi refused to help him in the slightest and he had to figure out how to use his senses on his own.

Back in the Academy, they weren't taught much about animals, and only divided them into two types: those that they can eat and those whose meat isn't worthwhile, so it was a total surprise when Naruto discovered that he had amazing sense of smell. Okay, so maybe foxes can't smell as much as he can, but that should be good enough anyway, right?

And he sniffs some more, takes a step towards Kakashi and Sakura, and hides his right hand in his kunai pouch. He and Sakura exchange looks and he loves it that he can vaguely tell what she's thinking without saying it out loud. By the look of it, his team-mates try to look as inconspicuous as they can, because they need some time. Naruto still believes that rushing into a mission like there is no tomorrow was a good thing to do, but then there is a certain problem in their team skills and he has no idea who's going to attack first - Kakashi? Sakura? That white freak? Or will it be himself?

The strong smell of blood doesn't make him sick - not anymore, not since he almost died in a fight with his best friends - but it certainly makes him wonder if there are hostages and how he will probably need Nine-Tails' chakra to heal after this fight.

When he hears some rustling in the nearby tree once again, however, he doesn't have the time to think it over. Yeah, they aren't ready and they might accidentally hurt each other in the process, but then again, neither was the newly formed Team Seven... and look how many bad guys they've taken care of.

xxxx

A/N: This story is so slow and its chapters are so short for a reason... and I hope that most of you are already aware of it. I mean, Sakura didn't realise how much Naruto really means to her in manga/ anime right after Naruto came back, now did she? But don't worry, my version won't take as long, I don't have the patience for that - and neither do you, I'm sure xD

Also, I saw lots of shots from The Last & read a detailed summary and the fact that they cut Sasuke out of the last picture with everyone... Yeah, that kinda tells you how pissed off with Studio Pierrot I am (some sort of resolve around the Uchiha genocide? Showing how the world has changed? Any explanation of why children are still going to the Academy and learn to kill even though the world is apparently at peace? At least a single frame with Yamato and what happened to Team Taka & Orochimaru with Kabuto etc etc? Naaah let's make the last film resolve around romance) Yeah I would still be pissed off even if this film was concentrated on NaruSaku romance... Where is all the resolve?!


	7. Chapter 7

She picks up her kunai and takes it out of her backpack just as the first rogue ninja attacks her, his eyes full of hatred; she can only suspect that the gang saw their headbands and, not being in good terms with Konoha, they decided to attack straight away. Not the best technique, if you ask her, but maybe they aren't half as talented or trained as her, so she can forgive them this huge mistake.

Sakura smirks at how weak the guy in front of her really is. Her deductive skills tell her that he's an alcoholic, if big bags under his eyes, strong smell of alcohol and a small bottle of vodka that was looking out of his pocket is anything to judge him by. His clothes are rusty and she can only suspect that they weren't washed in weeks – the strong smell of sweat mixes up with alcohol and makes the man smell absolutely disgusting.

In simple terms, he's an easy target, and she would probably find a genin-wannabe stronger than this man. But nevertheless, she doesn't take a pity at him and knocks him out a moment later – she doesn't even need to use her kunai with this one.

Her next opponent, however, is nothing like his comrade. He's physically strong and tall, and Sakura suspects that she is probably one-third of his size, but since when do big guys scare her? She smirks and blocks his hit from the right. However, instead of looking at least mildly surprised, her opponent whispers 'katon' and the next thing she knows, she is attacked by small fireballs. Sakura barely has time to dodge, but then she is up on her feet again and she is rushing at her opponent.

He turns out to be a surprisingly good nukenin and Sakura almost misses one of his fire attacks if it wasn't for Sai and his 'drawn animals' jutsu. When the hench guy is down, she throws a quick smile at Sai, to which he only nods and goes back to attacking his own opponent. She doesn't waste time and takes on another guy.

Half an hour later, all of their opponents are laying down unconscious, except for one that Kakashi decided to keep awake to question. Naruto dusts off his trousers and gives Sai a pointed look. "You aren't as useless as I thought."

"I believe these words belong to me," Sai says coldly and they exchange glances. Sakura and Kakashi don't comment on it, instead focusing on the villain that kept staring at them while being tied up to a tree nearby. Instead of telling both guys on his team to shut up, Kakashi walks towards him and squats down in front of their enemy, his only visible eye looking disinterested and, and gives out a tired sigh.

"Now, are you going to tell us everything straight away or do you want my squad to torture you with their weapon? It's up to you, really," Kakashi says and gives their enemy a cheesy smile, though whether or not he is smiling can only be told by his single visible eye creasing a bit. The nukenin whimpers – it seems that he was the weakest in their little gang – which makes Kakashi's smile even wider. "Come on, now, I only give you ten seconds before I tell my team to start cutting into parts. After that, I will put you into a box and send the remaining pieces to your mother."

Sakura shudders, because what the heck is their old sensei even thinking?! But then again, maybe was always _that _mad – he just kept it down when she, Naruto and Sasuke were mere genins as it would easily scare them away. _No wonder he decided to leave ANBU – he probably scared the living hell even out of the toughest cookies._

She throws a glance at Sai who scoffs at Kakashi's words and, really, she doesn't know him that well but she didn't expect _him _to scoff; it's seconds later that she feels someone grabbing her arm and she swiftly turns around, raising her eyebrow at Naruto. He… doesn't look like himself, and she can see how his face has a green tint to it.

"Are you sick?" she asks without beating around the bush and he quickly shakes his head which makes his hair look even messier.

"I think… I have food poisoning."

There is no way she can prevent herself from rolling her eyes, so she does so without any shame and, in return, grabs Naruto's arm just above his elbow and begins dragging him back to the river. "Kakashi-sensei, Naruto probably overate and is now complaining about food poisoning. Can you take care of the enemy for the time being?"

"Sure thing, Sakura," Kakashi throws over his shoulder, and his words are followed by Naruto's annoyed muttering, mostly consisting of 'yeah, sure, Sakura-chan, blame it on my appetite' and 'I know I have food poisoning, dattebayo'.

When they reach their bags, Sakura doesn't waste time and swiftly takes out a specific tablet from her bag, forcing it into Naruto's mouth and making him take a drink from the river. He does so without complaining, but when he finally swallows the tablet, his eyes are staring at her in accusation, waiting for her to explain herself. She only shrugs.

"That tablet will make it better."

"You didn't even ask about the symptoms, Sakura-chan. For all you know, I can be _dying _right now."

"Oh yeah? Of what? I doubt that _you _will die of overeating in the near future."

"I didn't overeat! All I ate was a sandwich…"

"Yeah, that, and a few dozen chocolate bars. Don't play dumb, Naruto, I know _exactly _what's laying in your bag. Just empty wrappers," she says confidently and giggles at his pouting face. Seriously, what an idiot. Why was he her team-mate, again? "So what do you think of that guy, anyway?"

Naruto makes a serious face and begins scratching his chin, his gaze turned upwards; she can't stop thinking that this looks strangely attractive, but she isn't brave (or dumb!) enough to voice her thoughts. For some time, they stay comfortably silent, and she doesn't rush him because he seems to be _seriously _pondering on this question and she swears to Kami that she will kick anyone that will dare to interrupt this rare moment of thinking.

It seems like Naruto finally comes up with something, for he gives out a short yelp and looks into Sakura's eyes, his own pupils blown wide with excitement. "I know who he is, Sakura-chan. He is," she leans in, her eyelids lowering, "an assassin who was paid to murder us! It's good that you have me with you to protect your back, or-"

She flips him over and he falls to the grounds with a strangled 'Sakura-chan, whyyy'. Sakura completely ignores him – seriously?! Can't he pretend to be intelligent – even for a moment?

Her thoughts are interrupted when Naruto grabs her hand and violently tugs her to the ground; because the whole action is so unexpected and bizarre, she isn't able to resist it, and only blink in confusion as she stumbles and falls in the _freezing _river. When she swims up and takes a few deliberate breaths, her heart pounding and her clothes soaking wet, all she can think is _he is __**so **__dead._

"Am I interrupting something?" Sai, the physical example of social awkwardness, is also a gentleman, which surprises Sakura to no end. She only gets out of lake, gives Naruto a good smack and follows Sai, at the same time dragging her blond team-mate by his ear. His cries for help are completely ignored.

When they are back, Sakura and Naruto witness an extremely unsettling picture. Their enemy is still tied to a tree, yet instead of being scared shitless, he is… crying? Yes, he is uncontrollably sobbing, all the while Kakashi is sitting right next to him and casually reading one of his orange books. As they come closer, she can hear their opponent whimpering and constantly stuttering as he is trying, but failing to explain what he and his gang was up to. Kakashi occasionally nods, but never looks up from his orange book, and Sakura doesn't miss the faintest of blushes on his cheek, his girlish giggling making her think of some grown-ass men who take bathes once a week, have long beards and constantly hit on underage girls. Gee, she was absolutely fine without that mental image of Kakashi doing the same thing, thank you very much.

"What was he up to, then?" Naruto inquires as he practically falls to the ground and seats against the same tree as their sensei, letting out a moan. "I don't feel any better, Sakura-chan. Are you _sure _that I'm not currently dying?"

"Shut your cake hole, I'm the doctor here," she responds off-handedly and sits down next to him, taking out an apple from her bag. She doesn't miss the way Naruto is eyeing her apple, but she only huffs and takes a big bite, leaning her head on his shoulder. He doesn't protest; in fact, he shifts to make it more comfortable for her, urging himself to sink lower. Sakura gives him a thankful smile, and he smiles at her in reassurance – he will always have her back, no matter what, and she is sure that he knows that

"Did you two have a fight?" Kakashi says matter-of-factly and Sakura almost chokes on her apple; she doesn't miss the way Naruto's shoulder tenses under her cheek, neither do her eyes miss the way his eyes widen and… was his neck always this pink?

"W-why would you say that, Kakashi-sensei?" the blond says as calmly as he could manage and then slowly puts his arm around Sakura, bringing her closer to himself. She plays along and makes sure she sits even _closer _to him.

Kakashi gives them '_the look' _which basically means 'don't-bullshit-me-I-know-what-is-going-on-here', and then swirls his index finger in the air, coming up with the best way to voice his personal opinion; Sakura doesn't like it one bit due to several reasons. First and foremost, he is a _pervert, _for crying out loud – surely he was going to sputter something dirty, no?

"Well, you are a couple," Kakashi begins and both of them nod. No, cross that out – the two of them _and _Sai, though she has not the slightest clue why he would nod. Social disaster. "And couples get touchy-feely all the time, so I expected, if only in the beginning, to see a lot of PDA and even stored a few phrases that I could use to make you prevent you from touching each other so much. I don't think that any of you are shy, so… you had to had a fight."

It amuses Sakura how much attention her own sensei is paying to trivial things like this, but when it comes to show up on time (only once, she isn't asking for more!) he is 'too distracted by the amazing world of my orange books'.

"No, we are fine sitting like this, Kakashi-sensei," she throws back and nervously laughs, but Kakashi and Sai are left unconvinced. And so, they only have one thing left to do; well, two, actually. She can kiss him – really, really kiss him, and it will take all the doubt away. Her second option? Get even more 'touchy-feely', as Kakashi called it, with Naruto.

Sakura gets up and looks down at her team-mate, making sure that their sensei doesn't see how she raises her eyebrows and tries to show Naruto what she wants him to do. Obviously, he fails in recognising what it is that she wants, so she mentally huffs and nudges one of his legs. When he continues to stare at her in pure confusion, she puts her foot between his own feet and nudges them apart. She is met with a dumbfounded expression, but she doesn't have time to fully appreciate how lost he is, for she lowers herself, turning around in the process, and leans against Naruto's chest, his warmth fully surrounding her.

She quickly looks up, as if nothing weird has happened, and continues casually eating her apple, though she can't stop the trembling in her hands; she prays to God that they can't see it.

It's to her utter surprise that Naruto puts his arms around her waist and makes her lean even further down. His legs began to moving, and oh so slowly he intertwines their legs, throwing his left leg over her own and – it just feels so natural. She can't imagine doing it with anyone else, so she complies and puts the back of her head on his shoulder, looking up at the leaves and the light-blue skies. She continues chewing on her apple and completely misses how surprised her sensei is, as well as Sai raising his eyebrows at this picture.

All she knows is that, in a few moments, Naruto taking her left hand in his own and gives her a reassuring squeeze; eventually, her arms stop trembling and she smiles to herself. When she is certain that her voice is steady, she speaks up. "So, uh, why did that gang attack us in the first place?"

"Oh," Kakashi coughs a few times, and they are nothing but his _weak _attempts to cover up his own embarrassment, Sakura is sure of it. "He said that they thought that we were somebody else – they were actually waiting for a travelling carriage that usually passes her. Even when they saw that it was only a group of four, no carriage in sight, they still decided to go for it, hoping that at least we had some money and food with us. Poor guys had no idea that we were ninjas."

"I wouldn't say they are poor, seeing as they _still _attacked us," comes Naruto's curt response and Sakura can't help but agree with him. The world is filled with poor excuses for criminals like this gang who are physically able to undertake a job that required physically fit workers, yet they willingly decided to give it up and pursue something much easier that didn't require as much effort. Sakura hates these soft of people, because they can have the whole world at their feet… and they throw it away because of some incredibly stupid wish.

Her brain presents her with a picture of Sasuke when he was twelve, but she quickly waves it off. It doesn't matter that she views revenge to be something that is pursued by mentally weak people who can't pick themselves up and keep going; at the end of the day, there is no way someone as thick-headed as Sasuke would get it, even if she and Naruto put him in a cell and come by every day, telling him the exactly same thing. Although, she thinks to herself, that's not such a bad idea. Maybe they should try it out, when they manage to get Sasuke back.

"What are we going to do with them, then?" she asks, not really expecting an answer. What can be done with a bunch of petty criminals? Letting them go seems like a waste, but killing them would be going overboard.

"We can securely tie them to these tries and place chakra-restricting seals on their heads," says Sai and everyone looks at him, because surely he isn't the type of person to come up with some major plans to deal with weak opponents. "I can use my drawn animals jutsu to send a letter to the nearest village, stating that there are some criminals that need to be taken care of, and my animals will lead them here."

"That's a great idea, Sai," comes Kakashi's comment and he cranks a smile, getting up from his spot. "Then, finish off what you're doing and let's get moving."

xxxx

A/N: Umm I was busy? *nervously sweats* No, really, I was writing and editing the first few chapters of this platonic SasuNaruSaku fic I'm writing (which I already posted, in case you were interested… or something). I, uh, think you might want to check it out, even though it has little to no romance. Also, chapters are 10k long and it's mainly concentrated on plot, bah. So. Yeah. I don't know when I will update next because of some personal issues, sorry guys. And yeah, I know that this is story is all fluff, so restrain yourself from pointing this out for me – I _told _you guys that I just wanted to write something incredibly cheesy and sweet, ehehe. Anyway, first chapter in 2015 woohoo, let the Writing Gods be ever in our favour! (school and homework sit down right outside of my house, their judging gazes turned towards me; I'm supposed to be mentally preparing myself for school and uni, yet here I am, being a piece of trash)


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